MAP23: Barrels o' Fun (Doom 2 In Name Only)

MAP23: Barrels o' Fun is the twenty-third map of Doom 2 In Name Only. It was designed by Joseph Lord and uses the music track "". The par time defined in MAPINFO is 6:30.

Essentials
As its name suggests, this map features a high number of barrels.

Red key
Take the shotgun in front of you and blow up the barrels on either side of the corridor to kill some waiting imps, then head straight forwards to a gargoyle switch blocked by two brick walls - the walls will lower to reveal two barons of Hell and barrels, but if you let the barons blow up the barrels they should injure each other and start to infight. Press the gargoyle switch, noting a cyberdemon in the cage ahead, to open a compartment behind you holding (depending on skill level) a demon, Hell knight or arachnotron, kill it then go inside that compartment and flip the switch inside to lower a wall behind you and reveal a staircase. Head up the steps to a megaarmor then continue on to a lawn with spectres, imps and an arachnotron, then go to the north-east corner to see four switches - the switches on the east wall are fake, but you can flip the right-hand switch on the east wall to reveal a doorway to the south. Watch out for two imps and/or revenants that teleport in to defend it.

Go through the doorway to a nukage pool, dodge the chaingunners then turn left to step on to a gray path, which leads to a group of zombies and imps protecting a button. Pressing this button will open the bars behind you and release some shotgun guys and a baron, as well as opening the wall ahead; there are numerous revenants hiding behind the front wall, but if you look left and right you will see narrow openings that have barrels behind them, and shooting these barrels will start a chain of explosions that will kill most of the revenants for you. Flip another switch behind the bars to reveal more barrels, which can be shot to damage an arachnotron at the end of the hallway, then go through and kill some imps waiting in the next room before pressing the circuit panel on the west wall (indicated by a floor arrow) to lower another wall behind you. Step through the nukage behind this wall to find one or more monsters protecting a silver teleporter.

The teleporter will send you to a room lined with barrels, with knights in the corners and a ring of spectres in the center guarding a partial invisibility. Take the powerup, which will help you dodge the zombies that are revealed behind the outer walls, then blow up the barrels to take out the monsters before heading for a lift at the north end. Activate the lift and clear some barons and barrels sitting on it, then ride the lift up and follow the passage to a circular room with a chaingun and super shotgun; pick these up before approaching the two gray columns in front of you as they will open to reveal two barons and/or arch-viles. Press the button in the left-hand column to lower the surrounding walls, revealing a ring of barrels below you along with zombiemen, cacodemons and arachnotrons, then fight your way to the north end of the lawn and press the button here to raise some steps leading up to another teleporter.

Enter the teleporter to return to the previous room, where some bars in the north-west corner have lowered allowing access to a nukage tunnel. Blow up the barrels blocking your path and collect the radiation shielding suit at the entrance, then follow the tunnel to the other end and kill some waiting chaingunners before climbing out. You are on a ledge with a knight (or mancubus on Hurt Me Plenty (HMP) or higher) at the other end - head to that end and press the satyr switch here, then go back to the south end of the ledge where part of the low wall has dropped away, allowing you to drop into a trench with more nukage and some spectres. Fight your way to the north end of the trench and walk into the metal column here, which will lower to reveal a teleporter to the next room. The next room has a maze of burning and explosive barrels, but when you go forward the wooden block ahead will lower to reveal a spiderdemon; climb up the steps in the south-west corner to get on a raised ledge and head north to a button, which will open a compartment behind you with an arch-vile and a second button, then press the second button and go back to the first to find that it has opened to reveal a switch which will lower a red teleporter behind you.

The teleporter will deposit you in a lava pool - take the supercharge in front of you and blow up the surrounding barrels so you can step out, then kill all the waiting demons, zombiemen and barons using the plasma gun by the west wall. Pressing the lit switches in the north-east and south-west corners will open the bars blocking the red skull key, but when you try to step out after picking it up you will be teleported into a tiny box with a satyr switch. When you press the switch you will descend into a room full of barrels that is overlooked by pain elementals - you need to run due north, ignoring the revenants and chaingunners that are released behind you, to reach the other side of the room before the barrels detonate. Kill a knight (or arachnotron on HMP or higher) that teleports in and kill any knights behind you that survived the explosions, then go back to the south end of the room to collect a supercharge and press an eye switch that will lower the teleporter at the north end. Enter this teleporter to return to the previous courtyard.

Yellow key and exit
Head east from the lava pool to a corridor, then south to an arachnotron which protects a red key door. Open the door and shoot through the pentagram wall in front of you to kill some zombies hiding behind it, then blow up the barrels on your left to clear the path and go round the corner to face a revenant (or arch-vile on HMP or higher). Go up the steps and kill the mancubi ahead, then head through the corridor to a set of steps - as you climb them you will teleport to a courtyard just to the north-west which holds zombiemen and more barrels. Step backwards before shooting at the barrels to destroy them safely, then head to the north end of the courtyard and step around the brick barrier to find a couple of monsters guarding the yellow skull key, as well as the door that it opens.

Go through the yellow key door to enter a square arena, but be ready for one or two revenants (or an arch-vile on Ultra-Violence (UV) and Nightmare (NM)) that teleport to the blood pool in the center. Go to the blood pool and collect the megasphere inside it, which will open three compartments around you holding arachnotrons and a spiderdemon (or two spiderdemons on UV and NM); you must fight them off, along with imps and chaingunners that teleport in, while you wait for a teleporter in the south-west corner to open. Once the teleporter is open, step through it to go to the exit room; the cyberdemon you saw in the beginning will teleport here, but you can fight it off using the BFG9000s provided. Go up the steps and press the satyr switch at the top to start a chain of explosions in the pit below, which will kill an unseen Romero's head and automatically end the level.

Other points of interest
The super shotgun found at the start of the level appears in different places depending on skill level. On I'm Too Young To Die and Hey Not Too Rough it is placed in front of the brick barriers, on HMP it will be behind the barriers, and on UV and NM it is placed in the compartment that opens when you press the first gargoyle switch.

Official

 * 1) In the gray room with the spiderdemon, go to the nukage where the rocket launcher is and step through the nukage-fall directly behind it to find an armor. (sector 265)
 * 2) In the gray room with the spiderdemon, take the steps in the south-west up and go north to the switch. Drop off to the right here and enter the nukage pool. Go west into the secret area for lots of medikits, boxes of shotgun shells and boxes of bullets. (sector 268) The button in this secret will activate crushers around the spiderdemon; also, if you press on the torch you reveal another area to the east, with knights and barrels inside. You can enter the chaingunners' pens through this area, and the teleporter here leads to a supercharge and a quick way into the red key area.
 * 3) When you go south along the room with the two mancubi stuck between the barrels, as you climb the steps you will teleport into the courtyard to the left. Go to the north-east end of the courtyard and drop back to the previous area, then retrace your steps, up the steps from before, into the backside of the courtyard where eight zombiemen will greet you. An armor bonus points to a wall underneath a metal wall that can be lowered, so lower it. Follow the passage, then you will end up in the courtyard from earlier. Carefully go around the walls here until you reach the partial invisibility. (sector 93)

Non-official

 * On the lawn west of the starting point, go to the four switches and flip the left-hand switch on the north wall - this will open a wall behind the green torch to the south. Shoot the barrels behind the torch to blow them up, then shoot the eye switch visible behind them to open bars blocking a supercharge and chaingun.
 * In the courtyard with the red key, press the right-hand circuit panel on the south wall to reveal a vent with some barrels. Blow up the barrels and shoot the back wall of the vent to open a closet behind you with three energy cells.

Current records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The data was last verified in its entirety on April 3, 2022.

Player spawns
This level contains four spawn points:
 * 1) facing south. (thing 1534)
 * 2) facing north-east. (thing 1535)
 * 3) facing north-west. (thing 1536)
 * 4) facing south-east. (thing 1537)

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level:

Trivia

 * The circular arena at the south end of the map loosely resembles the star room from Doom's.